Black Lives Matter Protesters Block Train To Super Bowl

On Sunday, 17 Black Lives Matter protesters were arrested after they blocked a light-rail line taking Super Bowl ticket-holders to the stadium for roughly two hours.

Metro Transit was forced to make ticket-holders take buses so they could arrive in time for the game as members of a group called Black Visions Collective blocked the tracks starting at roughly 3 p.m. The group stated on Facebook:

Activists are using this moment to stand with athletes who have protested throughout the past two football seasons calling attention to the murder of Black people by police and to the City of Minneapolis banning city residents from using public transit without a Super Bowl ticke.

Earlier in the week, Black Lives Matter Minneapolis had issued a release stating:

The NFL and the City of Minneapolis have failed to provide critical resources to vulnerable communities and have increased potential harm to residents through intensified surveillance of people of color and immigrants, a ban on access public transportation without a Superbowl ticket, and increased violence on Black trans women and sex workers.

SB Nation reporters stated that the light rail was the primary avenue of transportation for ticket-holders, as many roads in Minneapolis were closed to automobile traffic.